Spotlight #2 - Part 1: 5 Custom Features you shouldn't miss in Zoho Sprints

Spotlight #2 - Part 1: 5 Custom Features you shouldn't miss in Zoho Sprints

Welcome back to our next spotlight on ' Customization'.

The product's reach is determined by how well it is customized for the end user. When customization is the key element in a product's growth, a scrum project requires tailor-made features to deliver outcomes in iterations effectively. Here is the list of five custom features that will be covered in part 1 of this spotlight. 

Let's see how these custom features in Zoho Sprints can help Helen solve her business problems. 

 

Business background

Helen is the 'Technical Lead' of a software sector 'Yards'. Her team is developing a new e-shopping website. They handle work across different teams and as the work items pile up they require an organized way of handling things. Let's see how the custom features can help the team. 

Work Item Type and Priority

Case
Solution
Helen wants to add all the requirements in specific types. Instead of using the default work item types (Story, Task, and Bug), she can customize the types.       

Helen can use  CUSTOM WORK ITEM TYPE   and add new work items type. She can create all the categories in her website as the work item types: 

  • Electronics - Requirements related to gadgets are added to this type.  
  • Fashion  - Requirements related to men and women clothing are added to this type.  
  • Decors  - Requirements related to home decors are added to this type.   


This works similar for priority. She can access CUSTOM PRIORITY  and set new priorities for her team.  

Custom Layouts and Fields

Case
Solution
The default work item form has general fields for work items across domains. However, Helen would like to specify specific fields related to every department of her team. For example, she likes to have a specific layout for clothing related work items, shipping etc.  

Helen can create CUSTOM LAYOUTS and FIELDS  for every department. These layouts can be associated with specific projects and the work becomes organized.    

  • Shipping Layout - It has all the work item fields right from customer ordering the material to the shipping team working on the delivery.   

  • Decoration Layout - It has the custom fields related to user requests for interior and exterior decors.   

  • Textiles Layout - All the clothing related work items across categories (Men, Women, and Kids) are included in this layout.  

Each of these layouts are associated with the relevant projects and the work is made easy for Helen. 

Project Templates

Case
Solution  
Helen and her team have enrolled in a new project that is similar to the current project they are working on. They have a similar request from the customers for creating a new category for  'KIDS - CLOTHING '. How can they recreate all the items and sprints? 
The new project will have sections and layouts similar to the existing project.

  • Helen can create a TEMPLATE by importing all the work items and sprints. She can now associate it to the KIDS - CLOTHING project. This will break the hurdle of recreating the same set of work items multiple times. 
 

Custom Status on Scrum Board 

Case  
Solution  
Since, Helen handles work across different teams, she can track a clear progress of each stage in the sprint. Working with default three statuses: To do, In progress, and Done will work for projects with small goals. However, Helen works for deliverables across different domains. For example, she has to categorize the progress of the work items based on the users purchase order.   

Helen's constraint is resolved by creating  CUSTOM STATUS . She can create different statuses that are specific to her departments. This can help her in managing deliverables in an organized way across sprints. Every stage is added as a status. For instance, the initial work will be added to To Do and later moved on to any of the following status: 

  • Orders Placed 
  • Items packed in Dispatch warehouse 
  • Shipped  
  • Orders delivered 
  • Orders returned 
  • Redelivery  

Work Item Linking

Case   
Solution   
Helen has got a bulk order for 'Denim Jeans' and this work item is passed on to the warehouse team. Unfortunately, they found a bug in the delivered materials. Now, the warehouse team has to order a new box of materials from the company. The team calls Helen and asks the shipping team to hold back the order. How can she handle this situation?
The customer's order is now dependent on the issue. Only when the issue is resolved the team can ship the product. Helen can now use the WORK ITEM LINKING  feature and link work item with the issue.   
  • Work item A - Customer Order - Denim Jeans   
  • Work Item B - Bug in the material 
  • Work Item C - Redispatch materials to the company and place an order for the new box  
  • Work Item D - Ship the new material to the customers  

Helen can now set the  ‘Depends on’  link type for Item A and select all the depending items (B, C, and D).   


A detailed walk-through on linking work items is published in our previous spotlight. Read more .      

That's how customization helps Helen and her team to organize and manage their project requirements. In the second part, we will discuss the next five custom features and how Helen uses them to manage her team.

PS: If you got any queries comment here or contact support@zohosprints.com  
  
Happy customizing!   

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community




                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts



                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • Ask the experts - Live Q and A on the latest releases from Jan-Apr 2019

                                                              Hello all,   We are excited to kick-start the 'Ask the experts' community series for Zoho Sprints. This series is user-centric and we will focus more on the latest releases and queries that are frequently discussed in our customer support tickets. The first version will cover all the features released in the first quarter of 2019.    What's in the first half?   The first half of this year has been successful with some feature releases and enhancements. Take a look at the list below: Custom layouts
                                                            • Focus Group #1 - Epics in Zoho Sprints

                                                              Hello, everyone! As a part of our community learning series, we kick-start "Focus Groups" where you'll get a chance to have a look at a feature that's in its beta phase. "Epic" has been one of the most requested features of late. So, our first focus is on epics.  Our engineering team has developed a module for Epic in Zoho Sprints and the feature is in its testing phase now. We've planned to show a small demo to the folks who register with us through this post. You can also evaluate this feature


                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner









                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                              Zoho Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                              • Recent Topics

                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk - Zoho FSM Integration issue on Mobile and iPad

                                                                                                                Hello Team, I am trying to create a Work Order (WO) using the Zoho FSM integration (Add-on Service) that is integrated with Zoho Desk. The issue is that the integration is not working on mobile devices and iPads. While I am able to create the WO, Request,
                                                                                                              • E-File Form 1099 Directly With the IRS From Zoho Books

                                                                                                                The Form 1099 filing season has begun, and businesses are required to e-file certain forms with the IRS to report payments made to vendors and contractors. If your business made qualifying payments during the year, you must e-file the appropriate Form
                                                                                                              • Can I hide empty Contact fields from view?

                                                                                                                Some contacts have a lot of empty fields, others are mostly filled. Is there a way I can hide/show empty fields without changing the actual Layout? I would like to de-clutter my view, and also be able to add information later as I am able. I would be willing to learn to code a button, but I am highly confused about it and thus worried it would be beyond me.  I've looked at a lot of the developer documents and I'm not able to make a lot of sense of them.  Thank you in advance to anyone who knows the
                                                                                                              • Suggestions for showing subscribed Topics in CRM (contact record)

                                                                                                                We have several Topics set up in ZMA. We also have a sync set up between ZMA and CRM. I'd like to display the subscribed topics on the CRM Contact record. This will allow the Sales team (who uses CRM) to see at a glance what topics a Contact is subscribed
                                                                                                              • Replies sometimes creating separate ticket

                                                                                                                Sometimes when a customer responds to an email coming from Zoho Desk, instead of adding a reply to the original ticket, a separate ticket is created. This happens even though the response subject line contained the ticket number, and the person responding
                                                                                                              • Re-hide fields when option is unselected

                                                                                                                Hi all Can anyone help me with this - when I create a 'show' field rule for when a dropdown option is selected, how to I make it so the 'show' option re-hides if that option is no longer selected?
                                                                                                              • Allow Attaching Quartz Recordings to Existing Zoho Support Tickets

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request an enhancement to how Zoho Quartz recordings integrate with Zoho Support tickets. Current Behavior: At the moment, each Quartz recording automatically creates a new support ticket. However, in many real-world scenarios:
                                                                                                              • Custom Fields

                                                                                                                There is no way to add a custom field in the "Timesheet" module. Honestly, the ability to add a custom field should be available in every module.
                                                                                                              • Consultant-Only Booking Page

                                                                                                                Zoho Bookings does not allow for Meeting Type OR Workspace-Wide booking pages to be turned off. This is detrimental to organizations that have territory-based or assigned accounts, because if prospects can go to these booking pages and either select the
                                                                                                              • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

                                                                                                                The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update
                                                                                                              • Call result pop up on call when call ends

                                                                                                                I’d like to be able to create a pop up that appears after a call has finished that allows me to select the Call Result. I'm using RingCentral. I have seen from a previous, now locked, thread on Zoho Cares that this capability has been implemented, but
                                                                                                              • Custom Sorting based on other columns in table

                                                                                                                I need the ability to apply custom sorting to a text-based dimension in the X axis where the sorting is based on another column in the table. For example, I have a chart report where the X axis is a text label. I would like to be able to sort those text
                                                                                                              • Feature Request: Enable Custom PDF Layout Editor for All Modules (Including Package Slips)

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Community and Product Team, I am writing to share a suggestion that would significantly enhance the customization capabilities within Zoho Books. We all appreciate the power of the Custom PDF Layouts (the "New" template engine) that allows
                                                                                                              • Is there a way to invoke deluge function from within a widget?

                                                                                                                Hi! I have custom functions in deluge and I was wondering whether there is any way to call this function through a widget? Something like on click of a button inside a widget, run the deluge custom function. Would this be possible?
                                                                                                              • Can a default task Priority be set?

                                                                                                                The "Priority" field in the Task layout does not allow a default to be set. Is there another way of doing it? Because the current default is "None" and the Zoho Kanban board design has selected this field as critical information to surface by including
                                                                                                              • Adding a threshold to a line chart based on date range

                                                                                                                I have a line chart that is tracking a percentage over time. It also has a filter for 50 different clients. I would like to create a threshold that is based on a portion of the date range. As I understand it, this would be done by adding a column to the
                                                                                                              • Resize Signature field dynamically

                                                                                                                On the tablet, it is perfect. But on smaller mobile devices and PCs, both web and application, it is too small for people to sign. Is there any plan to make the signature field size dynamically in the future update?
                                                                                                              • Super Admin Logging in as another User

                                                                                                                How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are working
                                                                                                              • Zoho Creator Application - New User Not able to access the application

                                                                                                                In Zoho Creator, The newly added user not able to access the " Added Application" - User has received the Invitation Email, but while clicking "confirm Account" in the invitation Email, the following error message has appeared. "Sorry! you cannot accept
                                                                                                              • Deleting Salutation Field

                                                                                                                We have updated our lead input screen and 'Salutation' has appeared. This is not visible in the 'Edit Pgae Layout' screen so cannot be moved to 'List of Removed Fields'  Salutation is visible in the list in 'Customization - Fields' however I can only 'Edit' or 'Replace' I cannot delete and I do not need this field on my lead input screen.  Please can you advise how to get rid of this.  Screen shots can be provided if needed.  Thank you Tasha
                                                                                                              • Auto-Generate & Update Asset Serial Numbers using a custom function (Assets Module)

                                                                                                                Hello Team, I’ve been working on a script to automate one of our processes in Zoho FSM, and the core functionality has been successfully implemented. However, I’m encountering an issue related to serial number allocation, which is not working as expected.
                                                                                                              • Partner with HDFC And Sbi Bank.

                                                                                                                Hdfc and sbi both are very popular bank if zoho books become partner with this banks then many of the zoho books users will benefit premium features of partnered banks.
                                                                                                              • Zoho Mail iOS app update: Access Delegated Mailbox.

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! You can now access the delegated mailbox from within the iOS version of the Zoho Mail app. To access the delegated mailbox: Open the Zoho Mail app. Go on to the 'Email' module. Tap the profile picture. Choose the delegated mailbox Please
                                                                                                              • How to convert Lead's country field from Text to Pick List

                                                                                                                Hi, I would like to change the default country field in ZCRM from text to pick list. It looks like not I can't delete default country field and recreate it as pick list nor can i create an new custom field country because such a label belong to default field. So what do I have to do? Any ideas? L
                                                                                                              • How create a draft via workflow?

                                                                                                                I wish to create a workflow rule for specific emails that creates a draft response - not an automatic email reply, but just a draft with a set response ready to be verified by an agent who can then manually select recipients. Alternatively, the workflow
                                                                                                              • New feature: Invite additional guests for your bookings

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, Greetings from Zoho Bookings! We are happy to announce the much-awaited feature Guest Invite, which enhances your booking experience like never before. This feature allows additional participants to be invited for the bookings to make
                                                                                                              • Improved Contact Sync flow in Google Integration with Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone, Your contact sync in Google integration just got revamped! We have redesigned the sync process to give users more control over what data flows into Google and ensure that this data flows effortlessly between Zoho CRM and Google. With this
                                                                                                              • Image field in custom module

                                                                                                                Hi guy, Is there any hope of adding a custom image field in the custom module? We created a custom module to keep track of assets, and it would be helpful if we could attach an image to the record. Thanks Rudy
                                                                                                              • Cannot reorder fields in Page Layout in Expenses and Purchase Requests

                                                                                                                It is very inconvenient that the custom fields in Page Layout cannot be re-ordered. The only way is to remove the fields and re-create them; however, it is impractical. This would affect the reports and dashboards we are having. Not able to re-order the
                                                                                                              • الخصم على مستوى فاتورة المبيعات

                                                                                                                السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته مطلوب في إنشاء خصم على مستوى فاتورة المبيعات وليس على مستوى البند أريد معرفة الطريقة؟
                                                                                                              • VAT and Taxes option not available

                                                                                                                Dear ZOHO Team , The VAT and Taxes options in my ZOHO books account not available,I tried to find how to enable or check the way to use this option but unfortunately couldn't find it anywhere ,I'm in UAE ,kindly let me know what to do to solve this issue
                                                                                                              • Default Tagging on API-generated Transactions

                                                                                                                If one assigns tags to an Item or Customer, those tags get auto-populated in each line item of an Invoice or Sales Order when one creates those documents. However, if one creates the Sales Order or Invoice via the API (either directly coding or using
                                                                                                              • Direct Feed (Bank)

                                                                                                                Is Direct feed integration for AlRajhi and ADCB bank supported by Zoho Books in GCC/Saudi
                                                                                                              • Sales Order, Invoice and Payment numbers

                                                                                                                Hi zoho friends, it is me again, the slow learner. I'm wondering if there is a way to have it so the Sales order, invoice and payment numbers are all the same? It would be easier for me if they were the same number so there is not so many reference numbers
                                                                                                              • MS Teams for daily call operations

                                                                                                                Hello all, Our most anticipated and crucial update is finally here! Organizations using Microsoft Teams phone system can now integrate it effectively with Zoho CRM for tasks like dialling numbers and logging calls. We are enhancing our MS Teams functionality
                                                                                                              • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Report

                                                                                                                From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports The customer satisfaction (CSAT) report helps teams understand how customers feel about their support experience, identify service gaps, and continuously improve the help desk. It turns
                                                                                                              • Timeline Tracking Support for records updates via module import and bulk write api

                                                                                                                Note: This update is currently available in Early Access and will soon be rolled out across all data centers (DCs) and for all editions of Zoho CRM. The update will be available to all users within your organization, regardless of their profiles or roles.
                                                                                                              • Shifts in Zoho People vs Zoho Shifts?

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho People Team, We hope you are doing well. We are evaluating the Shifts functionality within Zoho People and comparing it to the standalone Zoho Shifts product. We’ve encountered comments and discussions suggesting that the Shifts feature inside
                                                                                                              • Disable fields in During action in Blueprint?

                                                                                                                Hi there. I've tried field disable (setReadOnly(true)) using client script and the event is onMandatoryFormLoad on detail page, assuming it'll work on blueprint fields, but it bears no result. Is this the expected behaviour? That we can't do this yet?
                                                                                                              • Develop and publish a Zoho Recruit extension on the marketplace

                                                                                                                Hi, I'd like to develop a new extension for Zoho Recruit. I've started to use Zoho Developers creating a Zoho CRM extension. But when I try to create a new extension here https://sigma.zoho.com/workspace/testtesttestest/apps/new I d'ont see the option of Zoho Recruit (only CRM, Desk, Projects...). I do see extensions for Zoho Recruit in the marketplace. How would I go about to create one if the option is not available in sigma ? Cheers, Rémi.
                                                                                                              • Next Page